Invest Cyprus, the state agency dedicated to promoting Cyprus as an international investment destination, on Tuesday announced that it took part in the prestigious technology event Viva Technology held in Paris from May 22 to 25, allowing it to showcase the island’s credentials as a technology and business centre.
Viva Technology is a leading event in the technology sector, attracting high-level international participants, including government officials, senior executives from businesses, and international organisations.
“Invest Cyprus’ presence at Viva Technology underscores its active role in promoting Cyprus as a significant technological hub in the broader Southern Europe region,” the agency said.
However, this represents a slight dip from the €648m recorded in the latter half of 2022, according to data released by the Central Bank of Cyprus.
These earnings accounted for 4.1 per cent of Cyprus’ GDP over six months, mirroring a period of heightened GDP growth across the nation.
Despite the many challenges facing the global shipping sector, including the escalating costs of transport, the ship management industry remains a robust pillar of the Cypriot economy.
Germany’s contribution remained solid, consistently accounting for 40 per cent of the sector’s revenues, underscoring its role as Cyprus’ foremost trading ally in this domain.
A newly introduced bill in the House aims to clarify the Central Bank of Cyprus’ (CBC) role as the competent authority for implementing European Union (EU) legal acts and imposing administrative sanctions and measures on its supervised entities in cases of violations.
Under the proposed legislation, which was discussed this week by the House plenum, the Finance Minister will have the authority to designate the CBC as responsible for the application of EU acts.
This designation will align with recommendations from the European Central Bank (ECB) and will pertain only to legal acts relevant to the existing duties and responsibilities of the CBC, without assigning it new tasks.
Specifically, the amendments to the ‘Law on the Central Bank of Cyprus’ will enable the Minister of Finance to issue notifications in the Official Gazette of the Republic.
These notifications will authorise the CBC to act as the competent authority for implementing any EU Regulation or Decision related to its current responsibilities.
The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) on Tuesday announced the launch of its Regulatory Sandbox.
This initiative represents the evolution of its previous Innovation Hub and is designed to offer a controlled environment for the testing of innovative solutions, under CySEC’s careful monitoring and guidance.
The presentation of the Regulatory Sandbox is scheduled for June 11, 2024, and will be conducted through an online event.
Commenting on the launch, CySEC’s Chairman, George Theocharides, said that “the Regulatory Sandbox marks a significant step forward in fostering responsible innovation within the financial services markets in Cyprus”.
Larnaca municipality on Tuesday is looking to various stakeholders to determine its next actions, following the collapse of the Kition Ocean Holdings deal for its port and marina.
Meanwhile, the semi-governmental Cyprus Ports Authority (CPA) is poised to take over the full management of the two facilities following the loading of a last ship bound for Gaza, in the context of the humanitarian Amalthea initiative by Kition, Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades said, speaking on CyBC radio.
Elsewhere, workers unions have also mobilised to safeguard the rights and collective agreements of 50 soon-to-be former Kition employees at the port.
On June 15-16, QuadCode’s hackathon is set to become a landmark event in Cyprus.
Going a step beyond the traditional coding marathon, it will include a mini-conference featuring thought-provoking leaders, investors and founders ready to share their insights and expertise.
Among the notable names announced are fintech experts from Google and TikTok.
Industry expert Andrey Aleksukhin, Google’s Industry Manager for Fintech, will kick off the keynote presentations on June 15, with “AI-squared: Enhancing Google Ads with First-Party solutions”.
On June 16, Fedor Balashko, TikTok’s Head of Sales, Apps and Fintech, will take the stage. Balashko’s keynote speech on “Defining Consumer Needs and Leveraging Automated Marketing Tools to Meet Them”, scheduled just before the awards ceremony, is expected to offer unique perspectives on the intersection of social media and financial technology.
The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Tuesday, May 28 with profits.
The general Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 166.13 points at 12:45 during the day, reflecting an increase of 0.16 per cent over the previous day of trading.
The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 101.06 points, representing a rise of 0.15 per cent.
The total value of transactions came up to €111,989 until the aforementioned time during trading.
In terms of the sub-indexes, the main and alternative indexes rose by 0.08 per cent and 0.05 per cent respectively. The investment firm index fell by 0.99 per cent while the hotel index remained stable.
The biggest investment interest was attracted by Petrolina Holdings (+4.14 per cent), Hellenic Bank (+0.37 per cent), the Bank of Cyprus (+0.88 per cent), Demetra (-1 per cent), and Atlantic Insurance (-0.94 per cent).
